TV review: Playtest (Black Mirror)

Episode 2. Here be spoilers. I will start by saying that I was genuinely frightened by this episode; watching with the curtains closed. “Nothing can physically harm you”, intones character Katie to our protagonist Cooper, an American man travelling the world to escape problems at home. But she can’t know that, not for certain. Accidents happen. The simple power of being alone in the dark working against every rational instinct you have that everything’s fine really is deployed here superbly. Skipping over the finer plot details, when the plot twist is revealed, it’s good. But there’s more; this is no Bobby Ewing in the shower moment. Reality falls away as we realise we’ve been duped more than once along the way here. I foresee irritation on the part of some viewers, but with clarity perhaps a grudging admiration might develop. It’s where I am now.